24 August 2014

The 2014 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft went smoothly, with a few surprises and frustrations. The major setback was definitely the delayed telecast in Sports Channel 5, but otherwise, everything happened as expected.

Most teams selected the players that they were more or less expected to choose given the shallow talent in the pool.

GlobalPort Batang Pier, which owns the first pick, selected the explosive Stanley Pringle. This is not surprising anymore because the company has stated previously that they would take Pringle with the top pick of the draft. After some drama with expected salaries, the two sides have come to an understanding and are looking forward to a bright future together.

With the possible trade of Paul Lee, Rain or Shine Elastopainter did not go wrong when they opted for Kevin Alas as the second pick. The Gilas Pilipinas cadet is not only one of the better players in the draft, he’s also one of the most experienced. His exposure to the international game is impressive – he’s played in several tournaments including the recently-concluded FIBA Asia Cup, last year’s Southeast Asian Games and even a smaller tilt in Hong Kong where he was named MVP despite teaming up with PBA players.

At third, Barako Bull Energy Cola made another senseless move by trading their right for a couple of bench players and two future picks to San Miguel Beer. The move has now critically convinced everyone with rational mind that Barako is a 'farm' team bent only to provide any of the three San Miguel Corporate (SMC) teams a pool of future players.

San Miguel used the opportunity freely given to them to tap former San Sebastian and NLEX gunner Ronald Pascual. The D-League stand out will join an already loaded squad that has PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos.

New franchise NLEX use the fourth pick to select Matt Ganuelas Rosser. The Filipino-American Gilas Pilipinas cadet has impressed a lot of people in the PBA D-League. He has great size at 6-foot-5 and was one of the standouts in the draft combine as well. His play has long drawn comparisons to that of Gabe Norwood and that could only bode well for him.

Alaska Aces was next and they used it wisely to choose the second talented player in the pool, Chris Banchero. In terms of pure talent, Banchero is right up there with anybody. He impressed with his athleticism at the draft combine, posting excellent numbers in speed and agility tests. He comes in with some impressive credentials, having won the Finals MVP award in the ASEAN Basketball league after helping lead the San Miguel Beermen to the title last year. However, Banchero will not be occupied with the terms of his conract in the coming days, but for the reason on why the Beermen passed up on him?

For the sixth pick, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings tapped Rodney Brondial. Instead of selecting someone capable of contributing to a team right away, Barangay Ginebra are instead planning on getting a player that could be a big part of their future.

San Mig Coffee isn’t in need of much help from the draft after keeping its Grand Slam team intact in the off-season. Instead, they exchanged first round picks with GlobalPort in the 2016 PBA Draft while also receiving the Batang Pier’s 2018 second round pick. GlobalPort selected San Beda forward Anthony Semerad at number seven.

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PBA Advisory

2017 Commissioner's Cup Format

The tournament allows teams to hire foreign players or imports with a height limit of 6-foot-10.

The top 2 teams will earn twice-to-beat edges over Nos. 7 and 8 while the No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 versus No. 5 pairing will be a best-of-three affair in the quarterfinals.

The semifinal stage will have a pair of best-of-five matches and the finals will be a race-to-four affair.

Gilas Pilipinas

Manila will host one of the three tournaments in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The Philippine national men’s basketball team will try to pull off massive upsets against France, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey and Senegal in the competition slated on July 5 to July 10 at Mall of Asia Arena.

A total of 18 teams will participate in the three-nation event whose champions will book tickets to the 2016 Rio Olympics.